London taxi driver wrongly arrested over cyclist collision after police misidentify black van as black cab
- Perry Richardson
- Apr 20
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 21
A licensed taxi driver was mistakenly arrested and detained by police after being wrongly identified as the suspect in an alleged hit-and-run involving a cyclist.
According to Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), the driver—who had recently joined the LTDA after 15 years in the trade—was asked to attend a west London police station to “sort out a complaint about his driving”.
Believing he had nothing to hide, the driver went in voluntarily. However, upon arrival, he was arrested, searched, had his phone confiscated, and was placed in a cell. The accusation was that he had deliberately knocked a cyclist off their bike before leaving the scene without stopping.
Police presented the driver with video footage showing his taxi before and after the alleged incident. There was, however, no footage of the actual collision.
The LTDA’s legal team took over the case after the driver’s release under investigation. They searched the area where the incident reportedly took place and secured CCTV footage along with a witness who clarified what had really occurred.
It turned out that a VN5 van, which visually resembles a TX taxi, had been involved in the incident. Because initial witness reports referred to a “taxi”, police focused their attention on licensed cabs and failed to consider other similar-looking vehicles.
Once the LTDA team presented the new evidence to the police, the driver was cleared of any involvement.
McNamara said in TAXI Newspaper: “A relatively new member, although he had been driving a cab for about 15 years, before seeing the light and joining the LTDA, received a phone call from the police asking him to ‘pop’ into a west London police station to ‘sort out a complaint about his driving’. In hindsight, he now knows he should have called us before complying with plods request but having done nothing wrong, he went along on his own. This was a decision he quickly regretted, as within minutes he was arrested, searched, relieved of his phone and put in a cell for an assault.
“He told me that at this point he had two thoughts: the first was to ask for ‘his’ (LTDA) solicitor and the second was to mentally thank his wife, who had done the LTDA membership application for him! He also had the presence of mind to say nothing until he had spoken with our legal team.
“The allegation was that he had deliberately knocked a cyclist off his bike and then driven off without stopping. The police were keen to ask for his comments on video footage that showed his cab before and after the incident.
“Crucially, there was no video of the actual incident. He was eventually released under investigation and that was when the team here began work. They scoured the streets surrounding where the incident allegedly occurred and eventually found some CCTV footage and a witness, who had seen what actually happened.
“Our member had been on the same road but there had also been a TX look alike, VN5 van, and it was this vehicle that had collided with the cyclist. Unfortunately, because all the witnesses had said it was a ‘taxi’ the police had identified the ‘taxi’ from the CCTV, but they had not seen the VN5 van
because they were not looking for a van!
“Needless to say, once we had shared this crucial information with the police, our very happy member was quickly cleared of any involvement.”
